[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bullhunter:
Air Defense Command.
318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.

Keeping a squadron of F-106 jet fighter interceptors opertional and a percentage of them on 5 minute alert status takes detication and hard work. Much of it dangerous to all squadron members.

Trim pad AB runs are awesome and very exciting to performe and even watch. But they are dangerous, especially if you are checking out a new engine.
Sometime about 1977 the 318th lost a F-106 jet off the northeast end of the base runway in Tacoma, WA.
Three new airman and myself had that new jet engine and the F-106 jet on the trimpad Saturday and Sunday. We had run it up several times including Afterburner.
The engine just did not hold trim. Everytime we ran it up the thrust, engine pressure ratio, & engine exhaust gast tempature were different. We determined the throttle teleaflex was defective and the crewchiefs replaced it.
Late Sunday was the last run up and we put the jet and its engine through it's paces.
It held trim this time but still in the back of my mind I felt this engine and or aircraft had a problem but all check out good. All very well within tech data limits.
The aircraft flew its FCF (Functional Check Flight) without any problems and the squadron was going to Tyndell AFB, FL the next day for the William Tell live weapons shoot.
The next day I was on interstate-5 1/2 way between Mcchord AFB and Seattle when the radio reported a F-106 crashed near McChord Air Force Base.
Something told me it was that aircraft that we had on the trim pad. I exited the interstate and called maintenance control and asked which bird went down.
Of course they would not tell me the tail number but told me to report to the squadron ASAP.
To make a long story shorter it was discovered, and as I was informed, the depot installed a main engine bearing backwards and cocked it. Thus causing the bearing to fail and explode right after takeoff. The explosion blew a hole through the engine's diffuser case and blew the main fuel line off the engine starting an aircraft fire.
Pilot ejected safely after turning the aircraft back toward the base but 1/2 way through the turn the engine flamed out.
I was later told that my crew was dam lucky the engine didn't fail and explode on the trim pad during the Aircraft and afterburner run-ups. Had that happened the aircraft engine bay likely would have filled up with fuel and aircraft exploded. Taking us all with it.
Trim pad operations with fighter aircraft are dangerous.

The price of freedom is expensive and dangerous work.

F-106,_SN0776_Spirit_of_1776_MAFB,WA.jpg (26 Kb, 14 downloads)

Being around aircraft I'm sure most of us have dealt with a fuel spill or two.

This was my first. Circa 1972 Norton AFB, CA (MAC)

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. ( You expected it to start off like it was a dark & stormy Night !)
Anyway another airman and I were changing an engine CSD & Elect generator on #3 engine of a C-141B aircraft.

As we worked taking our time we notice the ground got wet and we assumed that wash rack was busy washing an aircraft on the ramp above us. But within and a matter of seconds I knew that was not the case as I smelled jet fuel fumes.

I quickly went to the front of the aircraft and looked up the ramp, and parked up at the head of the line 4 aircraft away was an aircraft with a fuel leak out of both wings. Looked like two big water falls. I knew the fuel dump switches had been activated some how even though they had guards over the switches.

What made the situation worse was the MD-3 was running so the fuel pumps were pumping it out under pressure and as you remember MD-3's threw sparks out of their exhausts.
I told my co-worker to run to the passenger terminal and a telephone to call for help. I grabbed my headsets and took of on a dead run up the ramp through the jet fuel (splash, splash, splash) and boarded the leaking aircraft. Sitting at the flight-engineers table was a SSgt with the aircraft forms closed. I told him we had a massive fuel leak and I leaned over him and flipped fuel dump switches down into the off position and then flipped the guards down.
I then jumped into the pilots seat and plugged in my headset and called the control tower and declared a ground emergency, massive fuel spill.
I then told the SSgt crew chief to kill the aircraft power and battery and I'd shutdown the MD-3 external power unit.
As I reached the MD-3 and for it's cutoff switch I stopped as my mind reminded me that these MD-3's like to throw sparks especially on shutdown. So I whipped off my fatigue shirt, cut-off the power unit, and quickly smothered the hot exhaust with my shirt. Preventing sparks.

Fuel spill was stopped all power supplies cut, and the MD-3 operation shutdown. No explosion or fire. A line of 5 or 6 C-141 aircraft secured and saved.

After the fire trucks arrived the crew chief and I talked. We believe that when the he ( the crew chief) was reviewing the aircraft forms he pushed the cover under the fuel switches. When he closed the forms; the raising of the cover tripped the fuel dump switches.

Nobody ever said thank-you, good job, and they would not even issue me another fatigue shirt. I had to buy a replacement myself.
Now, does that not suck ?

C-141A's_Norton_AFB,_CA_1972.jpg (52 Kb, 5 downloads)

I can't believe it. The count is 104 views and not one other post but mine.
What,,,no body worked maintenance on any military systems?
What,,,every body just road around in vehicles, sailed on ships, and flew around the sky in aircraft.
Nobody got thier hands dirty?

Isn't it something?

HS_fixes_College_screw_up.jpg (120 Kb, 4 downloads)

OK, I maintained electronic communications and cryptographic equipment, which ain't aircraft but I have plenty of stories too. Like the time I blew up a paper tape punch. Bet most people don't know what those were.

Let me guess.
Something like a ticker tape maching or telegraph for decoding?

Maintenance is maintenance. Does not matter what it is on.

Yup. It punched holes in a paper tape, kind of like a teletype but a lot faster. I maintained a lot of that high tech secret squirrel General Dynamics stuff. It was as much mechanical as it was electronic. That equipment had the first integrated circuit cans ever made, I think. We had page printers, high speed and low speed card punches and readers, high speed and low speed paper tape punches and readers, a common control unit, modems, and crypto. The crypto is declassified now. You can even google it and see pictures.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SgtDinosaur,

I mostly did work on jet engines for 27 years. We were pretty diversified and worked on whatever and whenever.I started out on F-86 Aircraft (telling my age),then moved to F-89. Finally got into SAC and worked on B-47 & KC-97 & T-33's. Moved up to the bigger boys and worked on B-52's and KC-135's. The B-52 had ADM-20 Quail and AGM-28B missles and they were powered by jet engines.The KC-135 has an onboard power unit that is run by a small jet engine. Got a break and worked as a jet engine instructor in ATC for 3 years. Back to fighters with the F-4C and the T-39A. Finally ended it all in Sprcial Ops. working on HH-53 Helicopter, MC-130E and AC-130H Gunship. I started in June 1955 and finished in December 1982.

Very intresting career you had, SgtDinosaur.

My last 3 years at McChord AFB we recovered an old F-86 jet and restored it at the Mcchord Air Museum. I was the Admistrator & Director for 3 1/2 years. What a great job that was.


This is what the F-86 looks like today on display. I'll post a few resteration pictures if I can find them later. One of the old museum volunteers was a F-86 guy. Named Earl Otto, maybe you and he crossed paths.

318th Fighter Interceptor Sq. (ADC)
McChord AFB, WA.
circa: 1975/76

F-106A After Burner Blow out.

During early evening missions one of our F-106's had an afterburner blowout through the side of the aircraft. The pilot aborted take-off and drop the hook to snag the arresting cable at the far end of the runway.
The lower part of the nose gear strut broke off as the aircraft hooked the cable do to the extreame forces put upon it by the fast stop.
Attached are two photo's of the damage.
Pilot was ok but needed a change of underware I bet.
Because we maintained an alert force of 2 fighters on 5 minute alert we had to clear the runway quickly.
We got a low flatbed truck out of the motorpool and lifted the nose of the aircraft and set the nose gear strut onto the flat bed and tied it all down with cargo straps. We then towed the fighter with the truck to a repair hanger.
It was quite the evening!

F-106_afterburner_blowout.JPG (46 Kb, 5 downloads)

I was a Crew Chief on F-4E/Gs in the 37TFW, and then the 35TFW when they merged, 561TFS/AGS from 1986 to 1990 at George AFB, CA. Wild Weasels baby!

The Cold War to me was a lot of MOPP 4 exercises (OREs/ORIs) sucking rubber for hours at a time in the Southern California high desert heat. I spent four years AD training for war, and a year after I got out my unit was sent to Desert Storm. Talk about bad timing on my part.

I finally got my chance with the Indiana ANG (F-16Cs) after an 11 year break in service and just returned from Iraq in November 07.

Cool stories submitted so far.

Back around 1987 I was assigned to Phase on the F-4E/Gs. After a major phase inspection we had to do engine runs before we could "sell" the acft back to the line. We got hurried a little and our engine shop guy jumped the intakes out in front of the hangar to save some time before we hauled the jet down to the hush house.

Got the jet all strapped down in the HH and I was in the back seat to help with the run and the engine shop guy was front seat. We went through a few running tests and something seemed "off" just a little. Front seater then took it up to burner for the high powered portion of the tests.

BOOM!!! The jet lurched forward compressing the nose strut and I almost crapped myself when I saw the fire guard next to the jet run away! Front seater; "Wow, wonder what that was? Let's try burner again". Me; "How about...no!". Back into burner we go...BOOM!!! Okay, shut her down!

Engine shop guy jumps the intake to see what was up, and pulls out the bent plastic intake cover that he'd thrown in the intake when he did the quick inspection back by the hangar. He threw the cover into the intake for the tow to the hush house and forgot to pull it out before putting the run screens on.

We were compressor stalling when we'd go into burner and a huge fireball would come out of the exhaust (scaring the fire guard...heh)! Scared the crap out of me, and luckily the cover didn't FOD out the engine. I think the engine guy got an LOR out of it. I'm sure now days he'd be out of the AF if that happened.

Most of my time in was in PMEL but for years I calibrated the test cells, in 82 was in Cairo West working on a problem with theirs, while testing a J79 it had a fuel problem the Egyptian AF tech removed several parts covering himself and the ground with fuel while part were sent for he rinsed his hands, face and hair as he walked over to the test cell trailer, across JP4 cooking in the sun he lights a cigarette, as I am in the test cell trailer with a 5000 Gallon tank of fuel behind me, inside a revetment, I become somewhat nervous the officer with me goes out and chews out the Sgt who proceeds to, you guessed it, put out the lit butt in the fuel soaked sand to this day I have no idea how I am still here.
God bless and protect all our people in harms way where ever they are.
Pro Deo et Patria

Without MAINTENANCE pilots are just pedestrians with cool jackets and sunglasses
God bless and protect all our people in harms way where ever they are.
Pro Deo et Patria

This message has been edited. Last edited by: forgodandcountrysbc,